This is another controversial topic. I liken our current war on drugs much like prohibition. Stop the flow of money and the cartels will lose their power. 80% of the cartel’s profits are from marijuana and Americans will not stop using it like they would not stop drinking alcohol back in the day. Always follow the money. Our legal system makes a fortune through the criminalization of pot and it is hard to turn your back on such a money flow. I have reservations about the legalization of drugs, but we need to be honest and realize that pot has become a part of our culture. I do believe that no one should drive under the influence and companies should have the right to screen employees for substance abuse. But, when we look at the history of pot being outlawed, you will notice that it was about money and power. William Randolph Hearst started the campaign to outlaw hemp because it competed with his timber empire. Many of our founding fathers grew hemp. Propaganda films like Reefer Madness and claims it was a gateway drug for harder substances helped to gain public support. The true gateway drugs are tobacco and alcohol; yes they are drugs. Marijuana is a substance that you cannot overdose on, can be grown in the backyard (thus cutting out pharmaceutical profits), it has medical benefits, is not physically addictive and its users seldom become violent. The users may argue over a bag of Oreos, but that is about it. The profits on marijuana are what’s keeping the drug cartels so powerful and brutal. We can help stop the money and power they thrive on by decriminalizing the substance. Again, I don’t have all the answers, just trying to open the dialogue to remedy the problem.

It bothers me even more when medicinal marijuana clinics apply for a federally approved nonprofit license, then get raided by federal agencies for doing what they were approved for on their license. Once again, where is the logic?

Tort reform is a must on so many levels. The most common profession our political representatives share is the law. A free society needs these professionals, but abuse of their power helps to manipulate the masses and line the lawyer’s pockets. If you think about it, what are lawyers trained to do? They are trained to produce arguments only. What is worse is they are bound by law to defend their clients even if they are guilty. They don’t develop new products, defend our country, heal the sick, teach children, build bridges or grow crops. I remember when the tobacco industry was sued for hundreds of billions for putting addictive substances and chemicals into their product. Lawyers made the lion’s share of this lawsuit and the tobacco companies were not required to remove these harmful substances. That is just one example, but my point is made. We cannot compete with the price of health insurance from state to state because of the laws they have created. Lobbyists and the need for our politicians to get their campaign donations should share the blame, too. I suggest that a lawyer receives his share of a lawsuit that is over and above the settlement, instead of receiving as much as 40% of the verdict. Laws that hinder free market competition from state to state should be abolished, also. A company or individual should also be held responsible for criminal behavior or malfeasance, but the outrageous sums should be limited. I suggest that when an individual sues that the amounts be limited to five times their projected lifetime salaries, home paid for, continued medical care funded and their children’s education paid for. This will help cut the incentive of so many frivolous lawsuits that cripple our industries. Now, there is a good argument to be made that just settling a suit is more financially viable than correcting the problem they are accused of. This problem can be addressed with further economic penalties until the company corrects their mistakes or are out of business. Lawsuits are also driving up the cost of healthcare. Drs run many unnecessary medical tests to avoid lawsuits.

“AN OPEN FOE MAY PROVE A CURSE, BUT A PRETENDED FRIEND IS WORSE” Benjamin Franklin

We not only have the fox guarding the hen house, he is now running the whole farm. If a politician lies to us, exaggerates the truth or does not own up to their own mistakes, then they will do it again and again. If all they do is chastise their opponents and not offer concrete common sense solutions to our problems, regardless of controversy, then they are not honorable leaders. If they live their lives contrary to what they preach, then they cannot be trusted. How do we hold our leaders accountable for their own actions? Always question our leader’s motivations and always follow the money. Please do not become complacent America; we are fat and happy compared to the rest of the world. That doesn’t mean our way of life cannot come crashing down at a moment’s notice. We must start punishing our politicians when they break the laws and our trust. It is outrageous that our politicians cannot be prosecuted for insider trading, sexual abuse, tax evasion and any number of crimes where the average citizen would be held accountable with jail time. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

I do not work in the financial industry, but I do realize that regulations for a free society must be enforced. When our investigators are caught viewing porn on the job and they don’t lose their jobs, something is seriously amiss. The Madoff/Ponzi scheme should have never happened also. Please put your thoughts down to address this serious problem

“It is sobering to reflect that one of the best ways to get yourself areputation as a dangerous citizen these days is to go about repeating thevery phrases which our founding fathers used in the struggle forindependence.” – Charles A. Beard

We have more oil reserves than any country in the world. We send over 700 billion dollars a year to countries that want to destroy us. This is not only a financial concern, but a defensive one, too. What are we going to do if turmoil in the Middle East stops our supply of fuel and Hugo Chavez decides to cut us off from the 20% of oil we get from Venezuela? Not to mention the jobs that would be created. Our President invests billions of our dollars to foreign countries to drill in waters deeper than we are allowed to. Doesn’t make much sense does it? I am all for alternative forms of energy, but they must be economically feasible to work. Especially if other countries refuse to. We subsidize ethanol because of the farming lobbyists; when sugar cane and wheat grass are a much more efficient way to produce the same thing. The Department of Energy was created in 1979 for the sole purpose of weaning us off of foreign oil. Today, we spend over 24 billion dollars a year for this government agency and our dependence on foreign oil has doubled since its inception. The EPA is another agency that is stifling growth. A few years ago the EPA shelved a report that man has little to do with the earth’s temperature, but that doesn’t stop them from promoting Al Gore’s agenda. The EPA also stopped a solar farm from being built because they needed to do a study on how it would affect a desert mole. In Texas, they are holding up drilling because it may affect two types of lizards that are not even indigenous to this country. Where is the common sense?

The American people will never knowingly adopt socialism. But, under the name of ‘liberalism,’ they will adopt every fragment of the socialist program, until one day America will be a socialist nation, without knowing how it happened.”– Norman Thomas, U.S. Socialist Party presidential candidate 1940, 1944 and 1948

Tort reform and competitive insurance options across state lines are just a start. Insurance companies should not be allowed to buy hospitals. It is a serious conflict of interest. We need to do something about the illegal immigration crises, too. Emergency rooms are also used to treat the smallest of ailments for illegal’s, indigents and the uninsured. It is the most expensive form of healthcare and the working middle class ends up paying the bill. Unless there is a severe emergency or the patient is in tremendous pain, then these people should wait for the free clinics to open. I don’t want to seem cold and callous, but we have serious financial problems and these issues must be addressed and dealt with. People who are uninsured need to take some responsibility for the expense they cause, too. A wage garnishment is one solution to help them take more responsibility. Possibly deduct just a little more than what it would cost them to be insured. Currently, if someone comes down with a disease and becomes uninsurable, they can use their COBRA insurance for just one year, then they have to go through their savings to qualify for Medicaid. I suggest that insurance companies keep them on the groups insurance at the same rate until they qualify for alternative coverage. Socialized medicine is not effective financially nor will help develop new innovations. Again, this is an issue that I want the public to chime in on. I honestly believe, as a group, the average American can come up with better solutions than our elected officials who are tainted by political donations and lobbyists.

A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannotsurvive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself. For the traitor appears not a traitor; he speaks in accents familiar to his victims, and he wears their face and their arguments, he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men. He rots the soul of a nation, he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of the city, he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist. A murderer is less to fear. The traitor is the plague.” Cicero 58 Before Christ

Our founding fathers never envisioned that money from corporations and organizations would ever influence our judicial system and election process to the extent it does today. When a company donates to both parties, it is not for political ideology, it is so they have a voice in how our laws are made and enforced. It is so expensive to run a campaign that our politicians sell their souls and our futures to remain competitive. Consequently, laws are passed for the corporations instead of what is right for the populace. Even though our current president ran on the promise that no lobbyists would be in his administration, reality has proven otherwise. Who do you think wrote the laws that were passed that no one was able to read until the vote? Lobbyists did. Now Obama also promised us that we would have two weeks to read any bill on the internet before a vote took place, we would be out of Iraq by 2011, healthcare debates on CSPAN, cut the deficit in half by his first term and that he would reach across the aisle to Republicans. No need to address those issues which is a good part of the reason I’m designing this website. Here is an idea that I know will never be passed, but I’m throwing it out there anyway. Only allow an individual to donate the maximum amount the law allows. No corporate, union and especially overseas donations should be allowed. Require TV stations to run mandatory debates months before an election and have papers print exactly what a candidate stands for and keep their opinions on the opinion page. Imagine no corporate, union or overseas donations (like the estimated 200 million plus from the Middle East in the last election) allowed. Maybe, just maybe our politicians would be more inclined to pass laws that are good for the people instead of the donors. NAFTA was passed by both parties because of campaign donations. Ross Perot warned us that we would soon hear a giant sucking sound of our jobs going overseas. Can anyone dispute that he was wrong? Big Pharma is pumping over one and a half million dollars a day inside the Beltway. Remember the H1N1 scare? We spent billions for vaccines; many of the vaccines were impotent. In order for our politicians to pay back their campaign donors, they approved this unnecessary expenditure. How about the recent Solyndra debacle? We wasted over half a billion dollars to repay campaign donors. These are just two examples, there are many more. I know my idea is not feasible, but I honestly believe it is the biggest problem our country faces.